


where the heart is

by schweet_heart



Series: Star Trek Fic [2]
Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Bigotry, Episode Tag, M/M, Pre-Slash, Xenophobia, unabashed fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-28
Updated: 2015-09-28
Packaged: 2018-04-23 21:16:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4892512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schweet_heart/pseuds/schweet_heart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the events of "The Omega Glory," Kirk pays a late-night visit to Spock's quarters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	where the heart is

It was well into the ship's night when Spock heard the door chime. He had just begun to meditate, and for a moment was tempted not to answer it, but at this late hour there was only one person who would come to him and he was not someone Spock wanted to turn away.

 

“Come,” he said.

 

The door slid open, revealing, as expected, Captain Kirk. The human looked ill at ease, not exactly upset but preoccupied, framed in the brighter light coming from the ship's hallway, and had Spock been any less Vulcan he would have raised his eyebrows in surprise at the other man's obvious perturbation. As it was, he merely inclined his head, his dark eyes more than usually watchful.

 

“Good evening, Captain.”

 

“Spock. Can I come in?”

 

Spock stood aside, and the captain stepped past him into the dim interior of the Vulcan's cabin, where he seemed to register the lack of light for the first time. He looked at Spock questioningly.

 

“I hope I'm not intruding.”

 

“It is quite all right, Captain. I was merely preparing to meditate. Was there something you wished to discuss with me?”

 

“Yes. That is...” Kirk clasped and unclasped his fingers. It was a gesture so uncharacteristic that Spock straightened almost imperceptibly, his gaze focused on the human's hands. He was shifting his weight restlessly, and even in the dim lighting it was possible to see the hesitant expression on his face.

 

“Is something wrong, Jim?”

 

“I just wanted to say I'm sorry,” Kirk blurted.

 

Spock stared at him. It was quite fortunate his facial muscles were under such firm control, for he was very close to expressing complete confusion.

 

“I was not aware that you had anything to apologise for.”

 

Kirk flashed him a brief grin, then bit his lip.

 

“Not me,” he clarified. “Just, today. On the planet.”

 

He stopped there and made a slightly helpless gesture, while Spock mentally reviewed the events of their latest planetfall. After discovering the crew of the USS Exeter dead of an unknown ailment, they had beamed down to the planet to find Captain Tracey manipulating the natives in order to procure what he thought was a fountain of youth. He could not recall any incident for which the captain might feel a need to apologise – but, he reminded himself, humans were emotional creatures, this one particularly, and it was not implausible to suppose he was imagining a slight where none existed. He hastened to put his friend's mind to rest.

 

“I assure you, Captain, I am at a loss to understand what you are talking about. What in particular are you referring to?”

 

The only reason he heard Kirk's sigh was because of his superior Vulcan hearing.

 

“Doesn't it – _bother_ you when people single you out like that?”

 

Spock went so far as to raise an eyebrow this time.

 

“In what way?”

 

“'The pointy-eared one,'” Kirk quoted, his hands clasped tightly behind his back the way they often were when he was angry or upset. “'He has no heart.' They were willing to kill you because you were different from them. Doesn't that _bother_ you?”

 

Ah. Now it made sense.

 

“Captain, you forget that I am part Vulcan.”

 

Another smile. Spock felt the wave of affection like a physical touch, even across the distance between them. Interesting.

 

“No, Spock, I am definitely not forgetting that. I'm just asking. You don't have to be emotionally affected to find it...illogical. Do you?”

 

Spock paused.

 

“It is illogical to expect any species to act contrary to their natures,” he said at last. “It is natural for humans to react with fear to the unusual or unknown. In any case, Captain Tracy was merely attempting to use the natives' primitive superstitions against us. It was not so much a xenophobic reaction as it was a calculated ploy designed to incite them to violence. Hardly illogical.”

 

“That doesn't make it _right_ , Mr. Spock,” Kirk punched a fist into his other palm and began to pace again. “I know you're the only Vulcan in Starfleet - “

 

“Half Vulcan.”

 

The captain's eyes flicked towards him. Spock returned the glance with a steady look of his own, and eventually Kirk had to concede the point.

 

“The only _half_ Vulcan in the fleet. But I would never have expected something like that from Ron.”

 

“I _am_ used to it, Captain,” Spock pointed out, his tone gentle. The human's face was flushed, due only in part to the increased heat of the Vulcan's quarters, and his lips were compressed into a firm line. Spock wondered, not for the first time, at the Terran ability to become so passionate over something so relatively minor.

 

At his friend's words, Kirk stopped. The expression on his face was one which Spock had difficulty deciphering, for it seemed to be part smile, part grimace.

 

“I know you are,” he said softly. “And that's why I wanted to apologise on Ron's behalf. On behalf of all humans, if it comes to that.”

 

“Jim - “

 

“Humour me, Spock.”

 

He took hold of Spock's shoulders in order to position him better beneath the light, and through the prolonged contact the Vulcan could sense a tangle of emotions just beneath the surface. After a moment, Spock inclined his head.

 

“Apology accepted,” he said. “Though I would like to state, for the record, that it need never have been offered in the first place. I am well aware that you do not think of me in this manner. I would not judge you on the actions of others.”

 

Kirk regarded him for a long moment, squeezed his shoulders, and let go.

 

“Don't let anyone tell you you don't have a heart, Mr. Spock,” he said. He touched the place where the Vulcan's heart was beating steadily, regulated by his intelligent mind. “It's in a different place, but it's there, all right. And perhaps a little bigger than the rest of ours.”

 

Spock did not know what to say to this – there were a thousand objections he could make, but for once he found himself unable to voice them. Kirk gave him one last, crooked smile, and left.

 

Spock found it rather more difficult to meditate that evening than he had anticipated; but he also found he did not much mind the cause.

 


End file.
